Zendikar Suicide

[RecklessEmbermage]

I havent been working on ghasts with intuition, but i know there are alot of peeps out there building that deck.  Anyone have an intuition-ghast list?  The blue version would have the advantage of running islands, the finest mana-producer of them all.  I would try 3 each of intuition, ghast, clamp, and confidant...  then 4 Bazaar, because it is a land that falls.  4 Cabal therapy, because its the best.  Once blue is in the deck, i feel like i should be able to use force.  That means running a bunch of blue cards.  Fate stitcher could be interesting here.  Stitcher makes Vault playable because this deck only needs one or maximum two time walks to win, no need to go infinite.  Stitcher is also a guilt-free pitch card, and that makes me smile.  So that's already 28 cards, assuming the manditory restricteds: Ancestral, Walk, Brainstorm, Ponder, Tutors, yadda-yadda, 7-8 fetch manabase, and a huge furry monster, thats a stack of sixty. 

Stitcher in yard+vault ftw??????

Here's a list for you: http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=38952.0 It's completely untested, is balls to the walls aggressive and has many major holes to be filled (not the least having far too few blue cards to support FoW), but it might give you an idea or two.

Life from the Loam + Bazaar with Bloodghasts for a recurring Strip Lock that returns your attacker to play seems strong.  Like, considerably stronger than Clamp.

Considerably stronger than clamp? Clamp in a deck with rituals and access to a steady stream of creatures (zombie infestation in my case) can be built to combo out like a dream. Yes, it takes some time or luck to set up and yes it is uncompatible with rod but it is strong when you build and play it right.

That of course do not mean that bazaars and Loams should not be considered for a few slots in a BG deck. It might even be a better choice as main engine in an environment that truly demands rods.


ErkBek: Thank you for the feedback. I'll consider bending to sideboarded disruption rather than siding in solutions. Among other things, it permits the deck to stay monoblack, as a slightly more budget alternative..

[ErkBek]

Life from the Loam + Bazaar with Bloodghasts for a recurring Strip Lock that returns your attacker to play seems strong.  Like, considerably stronger than Clamp.

Bloodghast should only be dying if you have skullclamp. Bazaar + Strip + Loam has been around for a while and hasn't done all that much. I don't think Bloodghast changes that drastically either. All it does is speed up your kill after you're engine is running. Furthermore, relying on Strip Loam makes you even more vunerable to post board graveyard hate. Regardless, that's an different strategy entirely and would warrent a different thread for further discussion.

Just a thought, a Ancient Grudge or 2 in the main might be worth considering if you ever up it to 4 Bazaars. You could splash red with in a single Badlands pretty easily. The card that'd be on the cutting block is Sacrament, which in theory kinda serve the same function vs. Vault-Key.

[AmbivalentDuck]

Life from the Loam + Bazaar with Bloodghasts for a recurring Strip Lock that returns your attacker to play seems strong.  Like, considerably stronger than Clamp.

Bloodghast should only be dying if you have skullclamp. Bazaar + Strip + Loam has been around for a while and hasn't done all that much. I don't think Bloodghast changes that drastically either. All it does is speed up your kill after you're engine is running. Furthermore, relying on Strip Loam makes you even more vunerable to post board graveyard hate. Regardless, that's an different strategy entirely and would warrent a different thread for further discussion.

Other peope in this thread have mentioned/included Life from the Loam.  I don't think it represents a huge change in cards present, and you would be getting the Bloodghasts from quickly milling yourself.  You don't actually have to kill them (but you still could).  Dawn of the Dead was a three card combo that needed hugely dead cards like Squee and Zombie Infestation.  Having played against its creator repeatedly in St. Louis, it was the premier anti-aggro Duress-based deck.

Here, just upping the LftL count would let you recur Bloodghasts, maintain a strip lock, and draw extra cards each turn.  Since it's just a 2-3 card change, it shouldn't be a huge deal.  And it's also a reasonable SB strategy that doesn't require additional maindeck support.

[jaeppel]

Looks like you're off to a good start, but I've got to agree with the above posters on the 1's, 2's, and 3 of's. I also don't see the need for Red in the deck when you could just fully combo out with Fastbond + Tendrils. Yeah, I get that Warrens also combo's with Skullclamp, but if you're at the point of casting a large ETW you could probably just finish them off with Tendrils (and hasty Bloodghast). Tendrils can also be used as a Lava Axe when going aggro.

I think that i have to agree with you on ETW, it stretches things too much to play red for its effect.   The synergy with clamp is amazing busted, but its also very win-more.  Tendrils is win-now, no nonsense, as such ive changed this in my list at the start of the thread.  In fact, ive changed several things on my list to reflect some of this forum's consensus... i would be interested to hear any comments on the changes.

Fastbond was a glaring omission on the original list, and that has been fixed.  I hadn't included bond at first, then I found way too many gamestates that could explode with a fastbond.  Its potentially a dead card if the machine isnt working, but its not such a big deal, it only takes one slot and it can win the game on the spot.  Fastbond and landfall are an unholy couple.

You mention running Necropotence sideboard.  What about maindeck?  I had put in on my list at the beginning, but then cut it to keep things more consistent.  If necro can just win game two, why not do that game one as well?

[waffles]

hrmm thought of this, ritual -> buried alive -> 3x bloodghasts-> drop land=3x ghasts in play. more of an aggro tactic really.

[tef45]

Hy, that is the list win a side event on : Vintage French Cup the last weekend, the meta was very aggro.

/ Lands
4  Bazaar of Baghdad
1  Strip Mine
2  Wasteland
4  Verdant Catacombs
3  Swamp
1  Bloodstained Mire
4  Bayou
2  Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

// Creatures
4  Dark Confidant
4  Bloodghast
4  Tarmogoyf

// Spells
1  Mox Emerald
1  Demonic Tutor
1  Black Lotus
3  Life from the Loam
1  Mox Jet
4  Thoughtseize
3  Cabal Therapy
4  Null Rod
1  Vampiric Tutor
2  Darkblast
1  Lotus Petal
1  Seal Of Primordium
1  Raven's Crime  ===>>>I'm suprised but in one slot it's really a good play
3  Smallpox   ====>>> it's better than Malakir,

// Sideboard
SB: 2  Seal Of Primordium
SB: 3  Ravenous Trap
SB: 2  Extirpate
SB: 3  Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 3  Sadistic Sacrament
SB: 1  Oxidize
SB: 1  The Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale


Now go to discuss if you want

[waffles]

wouldnt the use of entomb-like effects speed this up?

[Greeg]

I'd almost rather play Bazaar to keep digging through the deck. You could always hardcast Bloodghast too, which isn't really all that difficult.

[Aew]

During testing with the list that Tef45 posted, Bazaar felt somehow wrong. I often felt that I did not gain anything on it. It might be just me tho. Could Bazaar be cut for something else?

Also as said before, this deck is very open for gyhate. Would the best thing g2 be to turn the deck around with more classic beaters or to fight the hate?

Edit: In the list that Tef45 posted, Dark ritual is not included but it is still in every other list posted. Am not sure about cutting Dark ritual. Thoughts?